Squirrell Stories

This subject may not be as exciting as some of the more noted animals at Shaver Lake, but there isn't a more active critter anywhere save the Hummingbird. We probably have fifteen Douglas squirrels within a 100 feet radius of our cabin. They look for every opportunity to be friendly. The Shaver Lake Douglas squirrel is noted for inviting itself inside your cabin. It is of course a huge mistake to encourage them in for any reason. Once in getting them out can lead to a path of destruction unparalleled even by teenage standards. The California Douglas squirrel is fearless which sometimes gets them in trouble with dogs and especially cats. I have seen these little guys hang on a cedar a foot above the ground taunting my Lab..........big mistake since she can jump six feet straight up and loves to play the game.

If you feed these little critters you can pay big time should you stop the feeding. They recognize pretty quickly where the food comes from. They have seen the human bring the chewables from the garage many times. So when you stop feeding them they often eat a whole in the garge door or wall and head in to look for the good stuff.

By the way these little guys are around all winter so we feed them year round and probably a little more in winter. They ceratinly are a joy to watch when playing or courting. They turn into acrobats and contortionists and can be seen leaping twenty feet to reach the next tree.

If you really want to be a hit with these critters put out some unsalted roasted peanuts. We have one little guy that waits in a tree thirty yards from our deck each morning. When I line up the peanuts on the rail he climbs down the tree runs across the gound then up a fir to the deck takes one peanut and returns the same route to store the nut. He will make this trip as many times as needed to get all the nuts. He of course sometimes has to battle the blue jays who also love the peanuts.

Lets hear your Shaver Lake Douglas squirrel story.